Winter Series (3) : Lotus Soup

Another family home favourite soup here. Lotus root soup, only 2 key ingredients ingredients needed : pork ribs + lotus root. In my recipe, I added carrots, peanuts and some dried scallops, wholly optional, but they do bring additional natural sweetness and unami flavour in the soup.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 300g of lotus root (I buy my lotus root fresh from the Chinese supermarkets, but could do with frozen lotus slides for a less chalky texture)

• 200g pork ribs

• A handful of raw peanuts

• 1 carrot

• 2-3 dried scallops

• Spring Onions (for garnish)

Seasonings

• salt (note : Do not try to add soy-sauce into the soup. We want a clear soup with hearty ingredients!)

Instructions

1. Slice pork ribs into chunks. Rinse under water. Blanch pork ribs for a few minutes. Remove, rinse and add into slow cooker.

2. Peel lotus root and carrot. Slice into chunks (the larger the chunks, the longer cooking time). Add into slow cooker.

3. Rinse dried scallops and peanuts. Add into slow cooker.

4. Add boiling water into slow cooker. Cook for 3-4 hours under high heat or 6-7 hours under low heat (the longer you cook, the darker the colour of the soup; peanuts will be soft with a little crunch when it is ready to eat). Add salt to taste.

5. Remove soup from slow cooker. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve.

Another one-pot slow cooker wonder!